Pong Slot
If you were a kid growing up in the 80s you must have spent at least some of your free time hanging out at your local arcade playing Atari games. And if you miss those golden days and have grown up to be a slot player with a liking for retro-style games, you'll definitely want to check out the Pong video slot from the diverse casino game designers that are PariPlay. Bringing that 80s nostalgia in an online and mobile-optimised slot game, the Pong by PariPlay is one of the most interesting arcade/slot game products to have hit the online casino games market in recent times.
The source of inspiration for this creative slot game is Atari's legendary game of Pong. If you haven't played Arcade games and aren’t familiar with Atari's work, Pong is an old console Ping-Pong game that celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2017. PariPlay's homage to this classic game doesn't only use Pong's instantly-recognizable moving rackets but also incorporates other associated symbols like the console itself, joysticks, and old CRT TVs. And to bring you an even bigger dose of nostalgia, the reels are built inside a virtual arcade machine where the on-screen controls are made to look like real physical buttons. To add another layer of authenticity, the game plays an 8-bit soundtrack with winning sounds that remind you of playing at your childhood arcade hangout.
The overall look and feel of the game can really make you forget you are actually playing a slot machine but if you look closer you'll easily recognize some standard slot features. Namely, the Pong is, at its core, a 5-reel game with 20 fixed paylines and some standard bonus features like expanding and regular wilds. What isn't so usual, though, is how the bonus symbols of the slot change and react to your spins, which is explained in more details below.
Grab That Joystick!
When you first sit behind this nostalgic slot game, it might take you a minute to figure out how to control it. Because the 20 paylines are fixed and there's no option to add more coins to each payline, when playing this game you’ll only need to worry about setting up your total bet size. The minimum you can bet on a single spin is 0.20 credits (0.01 per payline) while the maximum bet is 20 credits (1 per payline). If you do choose to go with the higher bets, it's good to know that this is a medium-variance slot game and that its estimated return to player (RTP) rate is 94.66%.
The original Pong wouldn't have been possible without Atari's console and your home TV set, so it's only natural that these items are made into the highest-paying symbols in the game. The most valuable of these top symbols is the console, which pays up to 400x your line bet if you collect 5 of it on a payline, followed by the joystick and the TV, both of which pay lower rewards. Apart from these iconic symbols, you can also find 5 fruit symbols with an arcade-style makeover that pay even smaller payouts.
But the most interesting of them all is the Atari logo symbol, which is a wild that plays so many roles that you'll need a manual to understand what's going on. First of all, the Atari wild always takes the centre spot in the game, sitting at the second position on your middle reel. As you spin the reels, the centre spot spins independently and always ends up producing one of the game's 6 Referee Wild symbols. If it ends up producing a regular wild, the symbol will change into one of the game's regular symbols to help you land a win. But if it lands in a different position, it can bring you one of the game's 5 special wilds.
Each Referee Wild in the game plays a unique role and is differentiated from the rest with additional markers that are added to the Atari Logo. The first of these special wilds are the 2 expanding wild symbols. One of these wilds expands left and right, together with the centre spot, while the other expands up and down, again with the centre spot, to create a column of stacked wild symbols. Apart from these two, you also have a wild that triggers 1 re-spin and a wild that adds a 3x or a 5x multiplier to all paylines. But the most exciting of them all is the Pong wild, which engages the rackets on the side of the reels to start playing a game of Pong and create 1-6 new wilds as the ball breaks through other symbols on the screen.
Spending Coins on Pong
Pong is an online slot game that can be either played for fun or played for real money. Even when you play a free Pong slot demo, you can end up having plenty of fun with this nostalgic game, as it just feels really entertaining. However, it isn't until you start playing for real cash that you can earn some real coins to add to your budget.
To play for real money, you only have to find a safe and reliable online casino that offers PariPlay games. There are a number of things that make a casino safe, the most important being a license, fair account terms and conditions, and online security mechanisms like SSL-encryptions that ensure your safe connection to the website. It's also recommended to check out the payment policy and banking limits of a casino before joining it as well as the rewards the operator offers to its players. If you're not sure how to do this by yourself, you can also have a look at our list of best online casinos for a shortcut to the top operators of today.
Following the Trends
Arcade slot games have become a rising trend in recent years as many slot designers tried to jump on the wave of 80s nostalgia that hit online slot players. And although not many arcade slots are based on Atari's legendary games, a large number of them offer a similar playing experience with just as enticing bonus features.
The Arcader from Thunderkick is one great example of an arcade slot that brings more than just visual splendour to its players. Built in a similar 5x3 format but with 15 paylines instead of 20, the Arcader comes with similar extras like regular and sticky wilds but with the added bonus of expanding reels, mystery symbols, and free spins rounds.
But if you want yet another Atari-licensed slot, you can also check out the Star Raiders slot from PariPlay. This retro slot game likewise comes with 20 paylines, small betting limits, and a wild symbol that locks into place, but it also offers free spins and 243 ways to win.
Relive Your Childhood Summers
Is PariPlay's Pong worth taking a shot at? It definitely is, and not just because of the whole nostalgia factor. Even if you've never actually tried a real arcade machine, this slot can provide you with a unique form of entertainment that can't be found in many online slots today. And when you add its small betting limits, its fixed shifting wild centrepiece, as well as its medium volatility to the equation, you get a game that can be both fun and profitable.
